The world of electro-acoustic music is, well, a small one. It sits in a valley between 'real' jazz (read: acoustic) on the one side and full-blown electronica on the other. By 'small' I meant to imply that, being a sub-genre of an already marginalized art form, electro-acoustic music isn't in danger of gaining mainstream popularity anytime soon. And that's too bad...because some most interesting and innovative noises are coming from this field.
Matthew Shipp's Sorcerer Sessions is a fine example. It's just chock full 'o ideas. I'm not even sure where to begin. Let me say that the instrumentation can bring a person to believe that something cool is about to happen: along with Shipp on piano and synthesizer we have Gerald Cleaver on drums, FLAM (also on Shipp's Nu Bop and Equilibrium) on programming and synth, William Parker on bass, Daniel Bernard Roumain on violin and Evan Ziporyn (from Bang On A Can) on clarinet and bass clarinet. Definitely some 'tortured air molecule' potential there, I think.
Ok, the music. The pieces here seem to fall into a couple of categories: 1) quiet sorta-chamber jazz meditations spiced with freaky improv and 2) freaky improv spiced with sorta-chamber jazz elements. This may seem like a snarky little cop-out of a description but I swear that if I try too hard to nail this stuff down I just might injure myself.
The show begins with "Pulsar", a quiet piano meditation built on a short series of chords that is joined first by violin and then clarinet. As the chord progression continues the violin and clarinet weave melodies and counterpoint. Very pretty in a chamber orchestra kinda way. Oh...no freaky improv on this one.
If somebody tried to convince me that I would enjoy a tune that featured a computer keyboard clicking away...I woulda laughed them right outa the room. Sure thing. Music for nerds. Well, "Keystroke" proves me wrong in a big way. Clattering keys, super-angular notes from the piano, squeeely clarinet and, just to really weird the thing out...FLAM samples stuff, runs it through the software blender and adds it back into the mix. It just works.
Let the weirdness continue with "Lightforms". Shortwave radio static is superimposed over a trio of piano, bass and violin. Sounds like something you'd catch a snippet of from a World War II radio broadcast...until everything drops away at 2:42 to reveal a few distorted piano notes descending....and then the noise (and the other instruments) fade back in to complete the piece.
"Urban Shadows". This is by far my favorite track. The sounds of the city linked to and woven into some snazzy improvisations. Like this: police scanner, drum 'n bass, truck horn, motorcycle, bass & clarinet & violin, squealing subway brakes, violin & clarinet, train signal, jackhammer, lawnmower, police scanner, telephone, grass trimmer...and skittering violin. Reminds me of Ornette's "Harmolodics" done with found sounds.
The closing "Mist" starts with an ominous synth bass, click-track percussion, and swooshy synth wash. The strings pop in from the side as commentary to the occasional sparse piano chord. Below all of this a scary bass clarinet peeks its head out. The piano chords morph into occasional bits of melody...and everyone 'follows' along as the synth wash gives way to our old friend, the searching shortwave radio.
Other pieces on Sorcerer Sessions aren't quite as 'out' as "Mist" (though "Fixed Point" might argue back at me on that), but they do share a kind of ambient quality. Definitely a thought-provoking mix of improvisation, dissonance and a sort of chamber music.
This is a kind of music that has so much to offer, as it reveals something new on repeated listens.
Heck, I'm only through pass #7...and I still feel like a beginner.
Sorcerer Sessions will be released on November 18, 2003 on Thirsty Ear Recordings.
(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)
Article comments
1 - Tom Johnson
Argh! You beat me to it! I've been passing this one through my ears for a week now, trying to come to grips with it. It is definitely slightly more obtuse than I generally listen to, so it's proving a challenge to me to find the right words to describe it in a positive light - because I do like it quite a bit. But that's what's great about jazz - it can baffle the crap out of you, yet still is intriguing and draws you back time and time again.
2 - Mark Saleski
that's ok tom, that's what you get for beating me to REM's Best Of (which i'm still working on).
this stuff is definitely slippery in that words sometimes don't do justice to the music.
that's what's fun about it.
3 - Eric Olsen
great job Mark, put it up on Cleveland.com
Thanks!